1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, an image processing method, and a recording medium on which an image processing program is recorded that determine whether a document to be read is a double-sided document or a single-sided document.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a copier or image reading apparatus, when a double-sided document is copied by an automatic document feeding apparatus, etc., or a document image is sent by electronic mail to a predetermined e-mail address as ‘scan to e-mail’, a user needs to separate the documents into single-sided documents and double-sided documents first by hand and then needs to perform reading operation on respective documents if a plurality of documents to be read include both single-sided documents and double-sided documents. Hence, the user needs to rearrange outputted documents in the original order.
On the other hand, if reading is performed without thus separating the documents, unwanted blank sheets are outputted. Particularly when color blank sheets are mixed, color toner (ink) is to be wastefully consumed. Also, when read document image data is stored, storage space of a hard disk or the like is to be wastefully used.
To solve the problems described above, the following methods are proposed.
In an invention described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 9-233321 (1997), when a user has selected a blank document page skip mode between a blank document page insert mode and the blank document page skip mode, a blank document detecting portion detects a blank document from data of image by comparing the data of image with blank reference data. The detected data of image is then discarded and an image forming operation is skipped. On the other hand, when the user has selected the blank document page insert mode, the inserting of blank page data enables image forming operation to be performed.
When the above-described related techniques are used, it is necessary for the user to select the blank document page skip mode or the blank document page insert mode for every copying operation or every document scanning operation, thus causing complication in operation.
In addition, the blank document determination is not fully made in a case where a document having suffered offset fails to be determined to be a blank document, or in a case where a document on which a text is written in pencil is determined to be a blank document, or in the like case. At this time, excess or deficiency of pages occurs, and thus an adjusting operation or a confirming operation is required.
Furthermore, since a color blank page document is not considered at all in the related art, determination cannot be made on a color blank page image, such as a blue or green blank page image.